Chuckverse

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

This is usually a different direction than I allow things to go on a first date.

Grant shook his head, waiting for Bobbi to open one of the rear doors of the SUV. He didn’t like that they were going to have to do this in her vehicle, but there was no other way. It wasn’t like Grant could easily load him into the Lotus. It didn’t have the kind of security features - or extra bodies - that this SUV did. 

“Yeah, real sorry about that. My first dates don’t generally have much in common with any of this, so we’re in the same boat, pal.”

Bobbi pulled the door open, and Grant manhandled Leo inside, climbing in beside him so he wouldn’t have any thoughts about making a quick getaway while they weren’t looking. Bobbi climbed back into the passenger’s seat ahead of Grant, and gave her guy directions to drive. Wherever they were taking Leo to be debriefed, it wasn’t going to be a restaurant parking lot.

“We haven’t decided yet if we’re taking you away. I realize this isn’t what you signed up for, but this is where Kara’s actions landed you.” Grant said, taking care to keep his voice level and neutral. At the same time, he was listening to Bobbi’s half of a phone conversation that sounded like it was with her superiors. “We will need to work out and go from here. Whatever the best course of action is, I’m sure–”

“–Pull over.”

Grant immediately put his hand to his gun, hearing Bobbi’s words. Without a second thought, he reached out and grabbed Leo by the upper arm, shifting so that he would be able to either protect the asset, or get him out of there if the situation demanded it. Turning around in her seat, Bobbi saw that, and rolled her eyes.

“Our superiors - that’s, the director of the CIA and General Hand of the NSA - have decided that, for now… We’re going to let you stay here, Leo. Until we’ve sorted out what can be done about the Intersect. We’re going to take you home to Echo Park, but you can’t let anyone know about this. Doing so what put you and your family in danger. You have to pretend like this was…”

“Just a normal first date.” Grant chimed in, and Bobbi nodded.

“The CIA and NSA will be putting in… handlers for you. People to protect you, and you may need to be available at times, because the Intersect, for now, is you and you alone. You don’t… Get to argue this. It’s this or–”

“–A small cell with rubber walls.” Grant finished, understanding Bobbi’s pause about handlers. It was likely going to be the two of them. Carefully, he let go of Leo’s arm, looking him over. 

“If you’re going to freak out, do it now. Then get it under control, Fitz.”

Pal. 

Leo had figured out pretty quickly that this was not a real date, and that Grant wanted nothing to do with him as a person, but it was still hard to reconcile this attitude with how the rest of the day had gone before it. Grant had been so sweet, and charming, and sexy, and Leo hated himself for still finding him attractive.

Not that he was particularly focused on that right now. 

“Hey - “ Leo protested as the SUV pulled over, and Grant moved to grab his shoulder. It was a tight grip, and if it was even a little bit tighter, Leo thought he might lose circulation in his hand. Was that a move to make sure he didn’t get away, or to protect Leo from a possible threat?

It didn’t matter. Morse was telling Leo that they were taking him back to his home, and that was the important part. 

“I can’t tell anyone?” he asked, turning to meet Grant’s eyes. “Jemma...Trip...I live with them. How am I supposed to keep it from them that - that something this insane is actually happening to me?” Leo already knew the answer. He had to just pretend as though everything was normal. There was no arguing with that. These people meant business, and had given Leo several reasons to believe it. 

As much as this all felt like a bad dream, it was really, truly real. 

Once Grant loosened his grip, Leo jerked away, shifting away from him in the seat. “I’m not going to freak out,” he snapped, looking away. “I just want to go home, all right? Can you please bring me home? I’m sure you’ll have to bother me again later but I just want to see my family.”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

The rapid fire way Leo was asking them questions had Grant convinced that he was starting to work out that what they had been telling him for the last few minutes wasn’t bullshit. That was a point in their favour, but Grant wasn’t sure how much of one; if Leo ran off because he was spooked, they weren’t going to be much better off than they were now. They needed to gain Leo’s trust and hold it.

“It’s built on subliminal messages, embedded in individual photographs.” Bobbi said, keeping her voice level. She was trying, now. Now that it was obvious Leo hadn’t been in on the grand scheme, she didn’t seem like she wanted to scare Leo into cooperation. That helped things. “Some minds can take it, but they’re few and far between. Kara must have sent it to you because…”

Bobbi hesitated, looking Grant’s way, but he did nothing but shrug. Kara must have known that Leo would be able to process the Intersect’s imagery into compartments in his memory, accessed and triggered at random when necessary. How she had known that, and why she had done it, Grant didn’t know, and that was just more of the mystery that he was starting to despise.

“We don’t know, yet, why she sent it to you, but yes, that’s why you’re remembering things you shouldn’t know and – Leo.”

Grant stiffened, watching the way the other way backing away, refusing to stay, refusing to cooperate. “You need to cooperate with us, Leo. There is no other copy, and having that thing in your brain puts you at risk. Leo.” Grant sighed, thinking don’t do it, and watching while Leo turned around.

They never listened.

Moving forward, quickly, Grant grabbed Leo by one shoulder, and the back of his shirt, spinning him around and marching him to the side of the SUV. Once he had Leo pinned, he slid his hands down his arms to his wrists and crossed them, glancing at Morse and nodding. 

So much for his nice guy cover.

“We’re going to have to take you with us, Mr. Fitz, if you’re not going to cooperate freely. This is for your own good, and the good of the people you care about. Get in the SUV.”

These two didn’t seem like they were pulling Leo’s leg; those guns, at least, were very serious business. After Leo’s reaction, he suspected they no longer thought he was in on whatever Kara had done.

Kara having been involved in all this was enough of a mystery in itself, but it wasn’t something Leo had the presence of mind to focus on right now. Right now, he just wanted to get home and go to bed, and wake up with everything back to normal.

“Hey!” Leo exclaimed as he felt himself get grabbed by the shoulder and the shirt. Grant hadn’t hesitated to get hold of him, and dragged him back to the SUV Morse had shown up in with no ceremony. “You can’t do this! I haven’t done anything - oof.”

Pinned to the side of the vehicle, Leo knew he was stuck. They really weren’t going to let him go free. Whatever Kara had done, she’d thrown him straight into the middle of an apparently inescapable situation. 

“Well, this is usually a different direction than I allow things to go on a first date,” Leo commented dryly, the cold metal of the SUV creeping through the material of his shirt. Something in him had snapped when he’d been trapped up against it. 

“Fine. But if you’re going to lock me up in a dungeon somewhere to live out the rest of my life in secret, I’d appreciate it if you let my sister know that - I don’t know, I died a heroic and brave death, or something, because you can’t just take me away - all right, all right, I’m going.” 

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

This was a lot to take at once. Part of Grant felt genuinely sorry for Leo. He was just one guy, and they were standing here, telling him that a bunch of things he believed to be true about his life were in fact lies. For Grant, this was every day. He was used to telling people things and watching them deal with it. For Leo, though, this was a lot.

And, really, things like this didn’t normally happen to guys like Leo outside of movies. He had every right to be overwhelmed.

Grant just needed him to get it together.

That wasn’t going to happen any time soon, not after the way Bobbi succinctly handled telling him about Kara. The tidal wave of quickly changing emotion was obvious on Leo’s face. The annoying thing was, he needed to know that information, Grant just didn’t know what he was going to do with it, right now, except shut down. If Leo shut down, they were going to have a hard time getting what they needed from him. Someone needed to get his trust back.

“In your head. There’s… The Intersect shouldn’t be something one human brain can handle. But, apparently, yours can. If you swear to me that you knew nothing about this… That you didn’t know this was going to happen…”

Grant wasn’t in a position to make promises. This wasn’t his call to make, it was his superiors’. However, if Leo had the Intersect in his head, right now, he was the most valuable possession of both the CIA and the NSA. They couldn’t risk losing him, but…

“We can’t exactly kidnap you.” Bobbi said, putting her hands on her hips. “The whole thing about us doing that? Bullshit.”

Grant nodded, backing her up, and reaching for Leo. He’d been lying this whole time, but Leo still seemed happy to defer to him. Maybe. Maybe…

“I can’t say what exactly is going to happen, Leo, but, I think, for now, you need to trust me. You need to stay calm, and stay agreeable, and work with me. We’ll get this sorted out. I’m not going to drag you off and pull out your brain or something. But we are going to have to bring you in, at least on video conference. You’ll need to talk to our superiors, and…”

He hated that he glanced at Bobbi, but he was almost glad that he had.

“There’s a plan in place.” She said, gentler than she had been. “Sort of. It’s tentative. You can stay here in Burbank, but there will be a team staying, close by. We need to keep an eye on you and protect you until the Intersect can be replaced. You cooperate with us, Mr…. Leo. You cooperate with us, and everything will be fine. I promise.”

There were no longer any guns aimed at Leo’s head. That, he thought, had to be considered an improvement.

It didn’t make it any easier to understand what was going on.

“How can a computer be in my head?” Leo asked, looking back and forth between Agent Morse, and Grant. “If a human brain can’t handle it, why can mine? Why did Kara send it to me? Does this have - is this why I knew something, earlier, that I shouldn’t have been able to know?” 

Holding back on the questions didn’t seem to be in the cards right now. It felt, to Leo, as though his mouth was moving without checking in with his brain first. 

We are going to have to bring you in.

“No,” Leo said firmly, surprising even himself. “No, no. I can’t get involved in this. I have family here, I have a life, and it doesn’t involve either of you two,” he insisted, pointing at Grant and at Morse. “You have to figure this out without me. It’s the NSA’s problem, or the CIA’s, or whoever’s, but leave me out of it.” 

Taking a few steps back, Leo shook his head. This could not be happening. The government wanted to monitor Leo, or trap him, or something, and he didn’t intend to just take it laying down.

“It’s Fitz,” he continued to the woman still watching him closely, even as he stepped back again. “I’m not trying to be uncooperative but I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong person, all right? You’re going to have to find another copy of your - your mind computer, because my brain already belongs to me.” Turning on his heel, Leo started to walk away.

Something in the back of his head was screaming that this was a bad idea. If what these two were saying was true, they weren’t going to simply let Leo leave with a head full of the most important government secrets. His feet weren’t listening, though, and were very intent on heading far away, and quickly.

[intersectfitz]

nsaward

It was obvious that Leo was panicking, getting worked up. That was understandable, and expected. The average person didn’t expect to end up in a parking lot with two operatives from two government agencies holding guns, while on a date. A date that, Grant thought, would have been classed as going rather well, up until that point.

It also tended to result in things like this; Leo admitting to a rather minor infraction, in comparison to the reason they were all there. Grant chanced a look at Bobbi, and she caught his eye. For a second, they weren’t competing with each other, because they were both thinking the same thing. This guy is giving away the house, but we only want and need one specific thing and him digging himself a deeper grave is not that thing.

“It’s not about a game. It’s about Kara. Palamas.” Grant switched to her last name. It felt easier to talk about her that way. “Palamas was a NSA agent. A rogue one. She stole government secrets, everything we had. And she uploaded it to a USB and somehow got it to you, outside of normal means.”

Because if she’d used USPS, UPS or Fedex, they could’ve intercepted it. She’d done something else to get the USB to Leo - and in barely more than 15 hours, too.

“She’s dead, Mr. Fitz.” Bobbi cut in, piping up for the first time. Of course, it had to be with something that made Grant manage to stifle a flinch, but didn’t keep him from looking down and taking a slow breath. She was a traitor. She was a traitor, and that’s that. “I killed her, after she stole the Intersect, but it was too late. It was gone, which meant she wasn’t working alone. We tracked the trace down to you. Did you know your computer’s destroyed?”

Bobbi was actually putting her gun away, now. For more than one reason, Grant was relieved at that. Leo was getting agitated, and they couldn’t risk pushing him further.

“You opened the USB, didn’t you?” Grant asked, stepping forward, towards Leo. “You saw what was on it, and, per its coding, it destroyed your computer afterwards.” Another step. “I was on a date with you, because we needed to know what you did with the Intersect. And I think we know, now.”

Bobbi filled in the blank. “It’s in your head.”

“Kara - Kara was NSA? She...” Leo squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger. This wasn’t the sort of thing that really happened to people. This only happened in movies, and certainly not to someone like Leo. 

“There’s no way. She was just an engineering student like me. We were friends. I knew her...” Opening his eyes, he looked at Grant, almost pleading with him to agree, to say everything was okay. “We had a falling-out, but...she couldn’t have - “ 

She’s dead, Mr. Fitz. 

A wave of indefinable emotion crashed through Leo, momentarily leaving him speechless. He and Kara had had their differences, but he’d never truly wished any harm on her. They’d been close, in Stanford, and even if she had gone behind his back with his then-girlfriend, that didn’t mean she deserved anything like this.

“You killed her?” Leo’s voice was nearly a whisper, still overtaken by the information that was being given. These people were even more dangerous than he’d thought. “And my...my computer...” He shook his head, taking a step back and putting his hands over his face.

“I don’t care about my bloody computer. I don’t know why she sent me that - whatever it was. Intersect.” Leo’s head jerked up as Grant took a step toward him. 

“In my head?” he repeated incredulously, eyes not leaving Grant’s face, as though he were some sort of anchor in all this. He’d been lying, every single word he’d said since the two of them met, but Leo was finding it impossible to discount what he was saying right now. “What do you - what does that mean? What are you going to do with me?”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

“Major Ward.” Bobbi greeted, moving closer to them. Grant was aware that Leo had pointed out her gun, but he wasn’t taking his eyes off of Leo. There was a damn good chance that he might bolt, and even though they knew where he lived and worked, neither Grant, nor Bobbi, could risk him bolting.

“Agent Morse.” Grant replied, keeping his tone casual. “If you don’t mind just backing off a little? Leo? Leo. Hey, Leo, don’t freak out.”

Bobbi didn’t seem to take lightly to the fact that Grant wasn’t paying her any visual attention. Her gaze was on him, while Grant was watching Leo. Her gaze wasn’t the only thing, though. Grant was acutely aware that Bobbi’s gun was trained on him, and his on her, and one of the guys in Bobbi’s SUV was watching Leo like a hawk. She had all the bases covered, and Grant was…

“Leo, listen. I need you to listen to me. This is Agent Morse, she’s with the CIA. I’m sorry I lied to you, but I work with the NSA, and I need to know what you know about Kara Palamas.” Grant was careful to keep his tone low and even. Bobbi still had her gun on him, but he took the risk, dropping his own hands and tucking it back away. She wasn’t going to fire on him. That was a surefire way to make Leo bolt.

“I need to take you–”

Grant cut Bobbi off. “–It’s important that you tell me when you last had contact with her. Just… Talk to me, Leo. I’m not going to hurt you, and Agent Morse won’t do anything. She knows.”

Grant glanced Bobbi’s way, looking her over before looking back at Leo, meeting his eyes. “She knows you’re with me.”

Leo couldn’t take his eyes off the gun aimed at him.

This was not what he had signed up for, tonight. All he’d wanted was to go on a date with a cute guy. Have his first fun night out in a long time. And it had been going great, until now - now, Leo’s heart was in his throat, and he felt frozen to the spot. 

“Please - please don’t hurt me - listen, I just work at the Buy More, I’m nobody, I’m nobody!” Leo held his shaking hands up, staring at the gun in the blonde woman’s hands. He heard Grant saying his name, and pulled his gaze away for a brief moment to look at him. 

“The - the CIA?” he repeated weakly, looking back at the gun. “NSA? I haven’t done anything! Is this about that game Skye pirated on my wifi last week, because I swear, I didn’t know anything about it until after she’d - “ 

I need to know what you know about Kara Palamas.

“K...Kara?” Leo turned to stare at Grant. He seemed calm, and he was putting his gun away, even if this Morse person wasn’t. “I haven’t talked to her since we were in Stanford! We were good friends there, but that’s all. I haven’t spoken to her...at...at all...” Thinking of Kara, Leo remembered the USB drive that had been sent to him under Kara’s name yesterday.

“She, uh, she - “ he cleared his throat, lowering his hands, starting to feel a little defiant of the way that gun was being aimed at him for no bloody reason. “She sent me something yesterday. A USB drive, unmarked. I thought it was strange - because she hasn’t spoken to me since I got kicked out of school - but what the hell does that have to do with anything? Why the hell were you out on a date with me if you’re NSA? I’m not with you.” Leo could hear the volume of his voice rising, but he didn’t seem able to stop it.

“Who the hell is she and what do you want with me? I didn’t do anything wrong! Can you please point that damn gun away from me!”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

Leo’s reacting to Grant’s closeness was exactly what he’d wanted. Leo looked a little lost, a little overwhelmed, and, maybe, a little hopeful. That was good, and Grant could work with that.

“Yeah. Back to my place. Just you, and me. Have another few drinks, talk. See what comes up.” Grant grinned, eyes half-lidded, looking down at Leo. He should feel bad, he really should. He didn’t, though.

Bobbi had confirmed it. The Intersect was inside this guy’s head, which meant that he was an asset that the NSA needed. The CIA needed him too, the Intersect was a joint program, but, right now, Leo would be a beautiful feather in Grant’s cap, and a sound ’fuck you’ to the CIA side. Grant just had to get him in hand.

That, it seemed, wasn’t going to be hard. With hardly any persuading, Leo was moving forward, touching Grant… Well, if this had been a real date, and Grant had been really attracted to Leo, he would have been won over.

Keeping that in mind, Grant pulled in a slow breath, and tugged Leo in, leaning down to whisper in his ear.

“Hope it’s all right that I’m thinking about what we can do when I’m alone with you.”

Moving his hands, he slid them down to Leo’s, taking one and tugging him back the way they’d come. Leo didn’t resist, and it wasn’t a very long walk. Grant just needed to keep up the banter, keep the illusion going, long enough to get Leo buckled in.

“Never really hit it off with someone this fast. I have to admit, when I walked into the Buy More and saw you behind the counter, I was thinking it was my lucky day.” Grant looked over at Leo as they turned into the parking lot. “Turns out I was right. A lot more right than I–”

Headlights swung into the parking lot, a dark SUV speeding towards them, quick. For the first time, Grant cursed his choice of car; the cherry red Lotus stuck out like a sore thumb, and Morse couldn’t miss it. The SUV had barely stopped before she was out of it, her gun up, striding towards them.

It wasn’t like she’d caught Grant off-guard, though. The second the headlights had hit them, he’d dropped Leo’s hand and reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, pulling out his own compact pistol, pointing it at the CIA agent.

“Leo.” Grant said, calmly. “You just stay right where you are.”

That look Grant was giving Leo would have been enough to talk him into anything, Leo reflected, as he looked up at Grant’s half-lidded eyes. Nobody had ever looked at him like that, and Leo never though someone like Grant ever would.

On top of being incredibly attractive, Grant was, so far, funny and kind, attentive, genuinely seeming to care about Leo and his life, and he didn’t mind that Leo worked at the Buy More, and he hadn’t asked about Leo’s failure to complete his degree. 

What more could Leo hope for?

This, it turned out. Grant pulled Leo in and whispered that in his ear, and Leo felt goosebumps raise all over his body, barely biting back a small sound. Jesus, it had been too long since anyone had so much as put a hand on him, much less pulled a move like that. Going this way, tonight was going to be a much better night than Leo could have possibly predicted when he woke up this morning. 

Ready to agree with Grant, Leo squeezed his hand, nodding along. Grant thought it had been his lucky day? He must not have had a clue that - 

“What the - is that - oh my god, Grant, she has a - “

Leo bit his tongue when he looked over at the man who’d just let go of his hand. Not only was the woman facing them holding a gun, but now, so was Grant, and he was aiming it at her. 

“What the hell is going on?” Leo whispered, not quite able to get his words out at an appropriate volume as he took a step backwards. 

He knew this date had been too good to be true...

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

That didn’t surprise Grant, that Leo had never really gone dancing. He didn’t seem like the dancing type. The thing was, they didn’t have much of another choice for where to go that would work. Thankfully, Leo was apparently on board with anything that Grant could come up with.

That was good. That meant that Grant had him hooked, and he would be able to keep going on this, pulling him along and leading him where he needed him to go.

By the time they left the restaurant, Leo was well on his way to being the way Grant needed him to be. The wine had helped, and Grant wasn’t holding back from making sure he could keep prodding Leo the way he needed him to go. That meant, when Leo took his hand, Grant laced their fingers together, swinging them gently as they walked.

“I promise, it’s safe.” He said, smiling down at Leo. “I wouldn’t take you somewhere that wasn’t going to be. It’s…”

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and Grant frowned. Pulling it out, he read the message that had come through, and then looked up sharply, scanning the street. This was his op, his target. She’d screwed up, she didn’t get to take him in on this.

Spotting the dark SUV up the road, Grant smirked, slightly.

“If you didn’t want to, though…” Turning, Grant backed Leo up, until his back was pressed against brick, Grant’s hands on either side of him against the wall, looking him over. “This… Might be forward. And you can say no. But the more I think about it, the more I don’t really want to be around other people. I’d like to spend time just getting to know you a little more.”

Standing like this, he knew he was blocking Morse’s view. Her text was still burning in his brain. Been to his house. Computer’s fried. He opened the files. It’s in him. Quit jerking him around, I’m bringing him in. This was my op in the first place, Ward.

No way in hell was she taking the credit. Grant had done all the heavy lifting to get here. She could sit back and wait her turn.

“What do you say we go back to my place? Not going to push you into anything you don’t want, but my car’s just parked behind the restaurant… And we can still dance there, if you’re set on it.”

Leo frowned slightly as Granted pulled out his cell phone and looked around. There was a hint of concern, or maybe even annoyance, in his expression, but for the life of him, Leo couldn’t figure out why. There didn’t seem to be anything amiss in the street around them. No rowdy groups of people, nothing suspicious.

Leo would have turned it over in his mind a little more, maybe gotten a better look up the street, if Grant hadn’t moved, backing Leo right up against the brick wall behind him. Maybe it should have been too much, being trapped between Grant’s arms and body like this on a first date, but...

“You - back to your place?” Leo almost squeaked. He cleared his throat, eyes flicking down Grant’s body and back up. He knew what come back to my place usually meant, and even if Grant really did just want to sit and talk, or something, it was still a pretty big deal, right? 

The wine, though, made Leo feel a calmness about it that he might not have felt before. Either way, he’d have wanted to - there was no denying he wanted anything Grant had to offer - but now, it was easier to go along with it without the nerves he may have had before.

“Well...” Leo’s voice slipped into something softer, lower, words rolling from his tongue. “I can’t say I have a problem with being alone with you.” He dared to moved, sliding one hand over Grant’s side and around his back, and the other up his stomach as he took a step away from the wall and in closer to Grant’s body. 

“So let’s stop wasting time out here and get back to your car, all right?”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

Not like you’d care about that.

On the contrary, Grant cared very, very much about that. he had been told that the Intersect could be uploaded to a person, but that person would have to have an amazing capacity of memory and a very unique brain to be able to take that kind of subliminal messaging. The sheer size of the secrets contained within the Intersect was too much for Grant to imagine Leo being able to handle.

Up until now, however, he’d thought that the files must be stored on a device that Leo had. Maybe on his person, maybe at his home, Grant wasn’t sure, and wouldn’t be until he persuaded Leo to take him home and then got the information out of him. Now, with the weird way Leo had just behaved, Grant was seriously considering the very, very slim possibility that maybe there was some merit to the theory that an individual human brain could handle the weight of the Intersect.

Grant ate his forkful of pasta, and looked Leo over, a small smile on his face. “Wow. Stanford. Very impressive. And my food’s good. How’s yours?”

Even with his new suspicions, Grant needed to make sure that he had Leo hooked on his line. Watching Leo, Grant put his fork back to his plate, contemplating his next move. They had time. He needed to get Leo alone, somewhere, preferably in a state where running or fighting weren’t possible.

“I was wondering… After dinner, there’s a club, not far from here. Friendly, in case you were wondering. I haven’t gone dancing in a long, long time, and…” Grant looked across the table at Leo, through his lashes. “I’m not sure I want to end this at just dinner. I know you’re a professional nerd, but…”

Grant seemed to have eased off a little, and despite his distraction and worry, Leo felt a twinge of nerves about that. He was probably acting, if not very strange, at least boring, and Grant might be losing interest already.

That sounded about par for the course, as far as Leo’s dating life went. But this was different. Nobody had been like Grant, and Leo had never felt like this on a date, and he couldn’t let Grant slip between his fingers just because his mind was playing tricks on him. 

“It’s delicious,” Leo replied, continuing to eat while he stole glances up at the man across from him. 

“A club? I don’t...I don’t think I’ve ever gone dancing,” he replied, biting his lip and trying to keep a handle on his heart rate at the way Grant looked at him through his lashes. As if Leo could say no to anything Grant asked him, looking like that. “But with you...I think I’d like that a lot.”

After dinner, and a bottle of wine between them, Leo was feeling better. Warm, relaxed, and without a trace of any more strange images behind his eyes. He and Grant strolled down the street, heading for the club that Grant had insisted was only a few blocks away. 

“You’re sure it’s - it’s safe?” Leo asked, shyly reaching to take hold of Grant’s hand as they walked. Maybe that was forward, but they’d already been holding hands at dinner, and Grant hadn’t seemed to mind. “I mean for us...I know you said it was friendly...”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

Grant smiled, coy, and tipped his head to the side. “Mm, I could tell you, but, like I said, I think you’re very, very cute, and I wouldn’t want to have to kill you for telling you company secrets.” Easy, no big details, flirt. Give Leo a little, but not enough. “I work for a company that does government contracts, so, as you can imagine… Sensitive subjects.”

As he spoke the last two words, he slid his fingers up, between Leo’s, and then back down again. Sensation, kinetic touch. Form a connection, make him invested…

“Engineering? God, wow. I really lucked out today with you, didn’t I?” Grant knew how that had gone. Leo had been kicked out of school - it wasn’t surprising that he wasn’t admitting that - and he hadn’t tried for anything else. Broken and defeated, the Buy More had been his fallback. Grant knew that. It didn’t seem important to the here and now, but it kept Leo talking. It was date banter. It was good cover.

“Eight years? So you’re an expat. Have you always lived in Burbank, since you came over?” Grant laughed, covering his eyes with his other hand, for a second. “Sorry. I’m just so curious, and, like I said. That accent is devastatingly sexy. I could stand to listen to you speak all night long. Even if you’re blushing like that. Especially if you’re blushing like that.”

Grant’s word choices were careful, and specific. He needed to have Leo lulled into a false sense of security, and of attraction. Or mutual desire. The better he did that, the easier this all would be.

The thing was, up until now, Leo had seem hung on his every word. Now, he was staring at the TV, slack-jawed, his eyes half-lidded, his hand weak in Grant’s. Looking around, Grant frowned at the TV, and then hid that, realizing their server was back with their food. He thanked her, and then looked back at Leo, as he apparently snapped out of whatever trance he’d been in.

“Wha…?” Grant frowned, again, giving the TV another look, reading the headline. What had Leo seen that was so…

It was possible. But his superior hadn’t been sure. There was a chance. But they’d been confident that Palamas had simply sent the information to Leo, and surely she would have warned him not to look at it, especially if they were in on this together.

Looking back across the table, Grant considered the possibility that he may not have to go home with Leo, tonight.

“Food got here. You all right? You sort of spaced out for a second there…” Grant twisted his fork in his pasta, having taken his hand back. “Hope I’m not boring you.”

If it hadn’t been for Grant, and the attention he was paying to Leo, Leo might have been a lot more thrown off by what had just happened. It felt like it had something to do with what happened last night, and whatever Kara had sent him, but part of his brain had been trying to convince him that was all some kind of weird dream.

Clearly, it hadn’t been. Maybe it had done something to him, subliminal messages, or something. But why would Kara want to - 

“No, no, you’re not boring me,” Leo shook his head, picking up his fork to start on his own meal. The memory of Grant’s touch still tingled on his hand, reminding him of the way Grant had slid his fingers over Leo’s. “Sorry. I just don’t really, uh, know why I said that thing about that General already being here. It’s nothing to do with anything, and not like you’d care about that.” He forced a laugh. 

Focus, Leo. 

“I’m, uh, I mean - yeah. I’ve been around here basically that whole time,” Leo continued, taking a bite of his food. “I always meant to go to Stanford, so...that was the goal.” He shrugged, continuing to steal glances up at the television. He wanted to focus on Grant, but that feeling had been so strange, and combined with what had happened last night...something was going on.

Now was not the time, though, Leo insisted to himself. Not while he was on a date with this guy, the most beautiful man he’d ever seen, who was apparently genuinely interested in Leo, and attracted to him. 

He couldn’t mess this up. 

“How’s, um, how’s your food?”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

“Oh, I’m a contractor. Well, I work for a contractor. I’m like a personal assistant. I get the things done that need doing, no mess, no fuss.” Grant answered, smiling brightly. Leo was doing his best not to come off as nervous. He really and truly bought into this date thing.

That was good.

What was even better was the way that Leo reached out and took his hand. That, more than anything, told Grant that this was working out. Leo was buying into the ruse, the trap that he was planning. He was falling for it, and the poor sap didn’t have a damn clue.

It was a little sad, because he did seem like a nice guy. He was trying to be funny, and he was sweet, and clearly he was smart; they’d pulled his records prior to his being kicked out of Stanford. In another world, it was possible that, maybe, Grant would have been a drinking buddy with him, or something.

Now? Now, Leo was a target, a mission, and he was a danger to national security. He wasn’t going to be any kind of drinking buddy.

Leo’s thumb rubbed against his hand, and Grant moved so he could lace their fingers together. Sweet, intimate. Confident, engaged. That was everything Leo needed to be getting from Grant, right now. Get his trust, and take him in.

“I can’t believe someone hasn’t scooped you up already. I really don’t think there’s a thing about you I don’t like so far, Leo. Including the Buy More. Everyone needs a job, you know. Make money. Did you have aspirations of doing something else, sometime?”

Leo had mentioned being Scottish, and while Grant knew that the team had looked deeper into that, he hadn’t. It hadn’t seemed important to the grand scheme of things. Now, though, knowing Leo had a Scottish background, Grant found himself wondering if that may be useful. It wasn’t like the Brits weren’t capable of going after national secrets.

“Scotland, you said, right? That’s… Wow. I’ve always wanted to go to Scotland. Visit Loch Ness, which, I know, is… Stereotypical.” Grant smiled, looking down at their hands, pressing the pad of his thumb against Leo’s. “So, then… You haven’t been in Burbank long? Or have you? Tell me, Leo, am I on a date with a Scottish national, or an American citizen with a devastatingly sexy accent?”

“You get things done,” Leo grinned, actually enjoying the pleasant tug in his stomach. “That sounds so mysterious. Should I ask for elaboration or will you have to kill me if you tell me?” He laughed. 

Grant had moved to lace their fingers together on the table, and Leo swallowed, looking down at their hands. This definitely felt too good to be true. Grant wasn’t shy at all about moving things forward. It wasn’t as though Leo only wanted this date for physical things, but he couldn’t deny that it felt good to have someone seem this attracted to him.

This willing to get close to him, this fast. 

The events of last night and early this morning had long since left Leo’s mind, and he felt himself beginning to properly relax into this date. 

“Well, I did some school for engineering, but uh, never ended up finishing it. I’d love to get my degree, proper, but that’s not really in the cards right now,” he shrugged with a smile. 

“Loch Ness...” Leo laughed quietly. “No, it’s not stereotypical. It’s cute.” His stomach flipped as Grant pressed the pads of their thumbs together, a strangely intimate, sweet gesture. “I’ve been in Burbank for almost eight years, actually. I’ve got my citizenship so I - I guess - I don’t know anything about devastatingly sexy - “ Leo could feel himself blushing again, and looked away for a moment.

His gaze fell on a TV above the bar, playing the news, the headlines across the screen talking about an important General coming to the city for some summit. As soon as the television showed the man’s face, something happened to Leo.

It was as if his vision blacked out for a moment, filled instead with images that had been burned into his mind the night before, flickering behind his eyes. When the restaurant, and Grant’s face, finally came back into view, there was information in Leo’s mind that hadn’t been there before. 

“That general, he’s already here,” Leo said bluntly, staring back at the TV for a moment. “It says - it says he’s supposed to be coming tomorrow but he got here...this morning...” He squeezed his eyes shut, lifting his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Uh. Sorry. Don’t know where that came from. Go on, yeah?”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

Leo was obviously nervous, and that was going to play into Grant’s favour. He wasn’t nervous, he was clear-headed and determined, and he had full control of this situation. Leo, on the other hand, thought this was a rather surprising and lucky date, and had no reason, apparently, to suspect otherwise.

“You are that cute, actually. Mm, well.” Grant stopped, looking at Leo and laughing, softly, while they waited in line at the host’s podium. “You’re a sweetheart, is what you are. And a charmer. I’m going to have to watch myself with you. Now, what I was going to say, before you beat me to it, is that, out of that uniform, you’re not just cute. You’re very hot, yourself.”

It was almost effortless, the way Grant did this. There was a reason that he was so good at what he did, and why he was brought in so often. He would feel bad for Leo, if it wasn’t for the fact that he was more than likely hiding government property.

Once they were seated, Grant put his hands on the table, not quite touching or reaching for Leo’s, but close enough, fingers winding together and then unwinding again.

“Actually, I just moved here about, mm, four months ago. Work, you know.” Grant met Leo’s eyes across the table. “You must have lived here your whole life, then. Even though, that accent…”

Drawing on something that had worked well, earlier, Grant bit his lip and looked Leo up and down as best he could. “I won’t pretend it didn’t catch my interest.”

The server came by to take their orders, and Grant ordered a bottle of wine for them to share, waiting until she’d left before he fixed Leo with a more sympathetic, gentle look. “You nervous? Or am I coming on too strong, now? I just have to ask, because you blushed, and as cute as it is, I want you to be comfortable on this date, Leo.”

You won’t give up what I need, otherwise.

Part of Leo kept insisting that this couldn’t really be happening. Grant could not possibly have hit on him at the Buy More and asked him on a date minutes after meeting, because he thought he was cute. Things like this did not happen to Leo Fitz.

The sort of thing that happened to Leo Fitz was getting kicked out of Stanford, and losing his girlfriend while figuring out that he was gay, and getting stuck in the same position at the Buy More for five more years after that. 

Now, though, here was Grant, beautiful and kind and laying his hands on the table close enough to Leo’s that he could touch them if he wanted. 

“Oh, what do you do for work?” Leo asked, eyes flicking down to Grant’s hands and back up to his eyes. Those eyes, he thought, were really something else. 

So was the way Grant bit his lip. Leo’s gaze was drawn like a magnet to his mouth, and without thinking about it any further, he reached out and lay one hand over Grant’s on the table, fingers curling around it. “It’s - I’m from Scotland,” Leo explained as the waitress left. His heart skipped in his chest as Grant asked him if he was nervous. 

“Um, not exactly nervous, no...” Eyes flicking down to Grant’s hands and back up, Leo dared to rub his thumb over the side of Grant’s hand. “Just not really used to this. The last person I did anything like this with was - “ He stopped himself, clearing his throat. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just been a while since I did this. And you...you’re something else, Grant,” Leo said with a smile, open and sweet.

“Nobody like you has ever wanted to go out with me before. I mean, I’m a professional nerd at the Buy More,” he snorted. “Not exactly the most alluring sort of thing...”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

That had been almost too easy, and Grant felt a little bad for Morse.

But only a little.

He’d had the distinct upper hand, being the type of person that Leo could be attracted to, that much was true. He had worked that whole meeting masterfully, though. Leo didn’t seem like he was even going to consider questioning why Grant was so into him, why he’d gone right to the dinner date. True, that was a thing that did happen from time to time, but Leo had given Grant the impression that it didn’t happen to him.

Either way, it had worked out perfectly for Grant. He’d gone and checked in with his team that he’d secure a date with the target, and would be bringing him in, first chance he got. Then, he’d gone back to his hotel room to get ready.

Just because this was a fake date didn’t mean that Grant wasn’t going to look the part. Leo needed to believe that he was invested in this, right up until the moment they got into his home, where, Grant hoped, he would have the Intersect. Looking the part, then, meant that Grant showered, and cleaned up his facial hair, making sure anything was was left was artful. Then he pulled on the most flattering pair of jeans he’d ever worn, ones that hung low on his hips, and hugged his ass and thighs.

Once they were on, he put on his boots. On first inspection, they looked like average brown suede Chelsea boots. When he pulled up the ankle of his jeans, they were anything but, the tops made extra wide with holster modifications for a small collection of throwing knives. With those in place, Grant had picked out a glaringly purple button-up, wrapped a leather cord around each wrist, and thrown on a couple long chains. Date-ready, he’d left for Ennio’s, arriving in behind with the Lotus at no later than 6:54.

Jogging around the front, he spotted Leo right away, and pulled his persona back on, sneaking up behind him and slowly, carefully sliding his hand over Leo’s shoulder.

“Hey. You showed up.” He said, making sure to sound actually relieved. “I thought… Well, I was worried I came on too strong. I wouldn’t have been surprised if you backed down, but I’m glad you didn’t. I don’t really meet a lot of cute guys like you.”

Eyes travelling down Leo’s body, and back up to his eyes, Grant smiled. “You look really good. Wow, I am… So glad you said yes. God, sorry. Like I said, I don’t meet a lot of cute guys, and you’re cute and smart. The whole package. I’m spoiled.” He let his hand drift from Leo’s shoulder to the small of his back, leading him forward. “You want to head in, find a seat?”

All Grant had to do was get Leo wrapped tight around his little finger. Suggest maybe they go somewhere more private at the right moment, and Leo would be rushing him home, and this mission would be as good as over.

Leo felt the touch on his shoulder before he even knew Grant was there, almost jumping but managing to contain himself. He felt warmth already creeping through his veins at the touch itself, the smell of that same cologne from earlier, and the sound of Grant’s voice.

How had someone like this actually asked Leo out, and then shown up for it? On top of that, he seemed to be amazed and grateful that Leo had shown up.

“You definitely didn’t come on too strong,” Leo replied, smiling and forcing himself not to get too shy. With the way Grant seemed to be checking him out, it was difficult. Grant was dressed in an outfit that seemed calculated to destroy Leo, jeans that clung to him in all the right places, and a shirt bold enough to show that Grant wasn’t afraid to be himself. 

“I’m not - I’m not that cute,” Leo insisted, straightening up as he felt Grant’s hand on the small of his back. That was forward too, a close sort of touch that Leo hadn’t felt in a long, long time. “I mean, guys like you don’t ask me out, you know? You’re, uh, you’re funny, and you seem really nice and you’re really hot - I, uh - “ 

Silently, he cursed himself, both for letting his mouth run away from him and for the hot blush crawling up his neck and ears. Luckily, distraction came in the form of getting a table for the two of them, tucked away in a little corner booth.

“So...so, you always lived in Burbank?” Leo asked, helpless to stop his gaze from wandering over as much of Grant as he could see. “I feel like I would remember you if I’d seen you before...”

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

Grant had this guy in his back pocket. This was definitely a new record, no doubt about it. The way Leo said his name? He was Grant’s, hook, line and sinker.

“Leo Fitz.” Grant repeated, noticing the way the girl was giving Leo a thumbs up. He didn’t need the stroke for his ego, but it was nice to have it. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who thought this chance encounter was going terribly well. “My saviour. I know you’re just doing your job, but you really did help me out, and–”

He’s free for dinner tonight.

You would think the girl was another agent, with how much she was helping Grant out. Inadvertently giving him the signal that he was doing great, putting Leo in a position where he couldn’t easily refuse the dinner date. It hadn’t even come close to being this simple for Morse. She was going to be livid.

“Really? Wow, that’s…” Grant looked down at his phone, thumbing open the contacts app and opening the page to add a new contact. “That’s awesome. I thought you were going to turn me down. I was coming on a bit strong, but you’re, uh… Really cute.”

Looking up, Grant winked, and then passed Leo his phone again. “Want to give me your number? When works for you? Say… 7, at Ennio’s? We can meet at the restaurant. See where things go from there?”

Preferably, back to wherever it was that Leo was hiding the Intersect. Grant could grab it, and Leo, and take them both back to the NSA command post. Cut and dry.

Leo was staring, and he knew it. The fact was, nobody had ever treated Leo like this. Nobody had ever flirted with him this hard. Certainly nobody Leo wanted to be flirted with by. And definitely nobody who looked like Grant. 

You’re, uh, really cute.

Even during the brief time when he had - unsuccessfully - dated a woman back in college, she had never called him cute. Mind you, he thought, she had been part of the reason he’d started exclusively dating men, and part of his realization that that was all he wanted, so perhaps that hadn’t exactly been a model relationship.

“Oh, no, come on, I’m not - I mean, you are just - “ Leo gestured a little helplessly at Grant before taking the phone again and plugging in his number. “That’s. That’s perfect. 7 at Ennio’s it is.” His eyes searched Grant’s face as he handed his phone back, looking for any hint of sarcasm, some clue that he might be messing with Leo. 

There was nothing but warmth and charm, and Leo’s heart was beating fast, and his face felt hot. God, how could someone even be this attractive, much less ask Leo on a date while doing it?

Leo watched Grant walk away, gaze wandering up and down - he was perfect, from head to toe, that hair, his shoulders, those long legs and, as he knew Skye was going to point out once he’d gone out of earshot, that ass - and on top of that, he seemed sweet, and charming. 

“Nicely done,” Skye commented as she joined him at the counter again. “And did you see the ass on him?” Leo nudged her with his elbow, shaking his head, still staring in amazement. 

That feeling hadn’t worn off when he got to the restaurant at 6:55 that night, looking around to see if he could spot Grant outside. Choosing clothes to wear had been surprisingly difficult, and Leo had ended up in a navy blue shirt and black skinny jeans, hoping it was appropriate for the setting. 

Christ, he was nervous. 

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

This was turning out to be a lot easier than Grant had anticipated. He’d once, jokingly, referred to himself as everyone’s type, and he hadn’t thought much of it then, but, right now, it was proving itself to be devastatingly true. He’d barely been here three minutes, and Leo Fitz already seemed taken with him.

It was very possible that Grant was going to set a record with this one.

True, Leo probably wasn’t used to guys just coming up to the counter and hitting on him. That was such a rare thing, even by today’s standards, even in Burbank. He was probably questioning it, but Grant was going to make sure that he didn’t have to.

“I kind of hate it,” he said, laughing and reaching up to push a hand through his hair. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s convenient and useful but, god, can’t they just make a phone that doesn’t glitch constantly? Or have a battery that goes to absolute garbage after a few months?”

Grant had to give it to Leo. He was pretty charming, in his own way. Grant didn’t generally like nerds; they were a pain to deal with, they had the social skills of a plank, and their egos were disproportionate to the amount of field work they actually did. Leo had an air about him that made him instantly likable, and Grant enjoyed that, but he was leery of it. It wouldn’t do to get attached or warm towards his target; as far as they knew, he had the Intersect. He was a danger to national security, and he needed to be dealt with.

“What? Oh my god, that easy?” Grant put his hand out for the phone, making sure his fingers brushed Leo’s as he passed it back. “That’s the most ridiculous - no. There’s no way that was just the cable.”

Smiling at Leo, Grant leaned on the counter, just a little. Enough that he was further into Leo’s space, now. “That was all you. You must have a magic touch. I…”

Turn on the charm.

Grant bit his lip, a second, slowly meeting Leo’s eyes. “I really, really owe you. You have no idea how helpful this was. You’ve sort of saved my career.” Sticking his hand out, Grant introduced himself.

“I’m Grant, by the way. How can I repay you for this, Leo? Can you charge me, or can I leave a tip or, uh, if it’s not too forward, I could get you lunch? Take you to dinner?”

Mercifully, Skye had backed off, retreated to the back of the Nerd Herd counter while Leo got the man’s phone working for him again. He was grateful; he wasn’t sure he could have handled her hovering beside his shoulder, grinning while - 

There was no way this guy wasn’t putting the moves on Leo.

He was leaning on the counter, getting close enough that Leo could smell his cologne. Leo’s stomach did a backflip as the guy bit his lip and met Leo’s eyes, insisting he’d saved his career.

“Oh...Grant,” Leo breathed, clearing his throat before bringing his own hand up to shake Grant’s. “I’m Leo. Uh, you knew that, you saw my name tag. Leo Fitz.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Skye giving him a big, enthusiastic thumbs-up, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or run away.

Things like this didn’t happen to Leo Fitz, Nerd Herder.

“I can’t - I mean, I won’t charge you,” he insisted. “We, um, we can’t accept tips, not that I’d want to anyway, because really, it was no trouble at all, it’s what I’m here to do. I - I, uh - “ 

“He’s free for dinner tonight!” Skye called from the back of the counter, grinning widely. Leo turned to give her a look, before putting a smile back on and facing Grant again. 

“Well. You heard it. I’m free tonight,” he said, bringing a hand up to rub it over the back of his neck. There was always the chance that Grant was just trying to be friendly, but with the way he’d look at Leo, it didn’t seem to be that. It seemed like it was just Leo’s lucky day. 

For once.

[intersectfitz]

nsaward:

This was one of the weirder cases that Grant had ever been put on, but he already felt smug, going into it, and he hadn’t even properly laid eyes on his target, yet.

They’d gotten word, just a few hours ago, that the CIA operative who had been sent in to attempt to deal with the guy had failed. No matter what she’d done, she hadn’t been able to get him interested; at least, not enough to do the job without kidnapping him. The joint task force transmission had come through, and Grant had laughed, pulling on his brown leather jacket while Agent Morse’s annoyed silence had come down the line.

“No one checked to see if he was gay or not, huh? It’s fine, Agent Morse. I’ll get the job done.”

And that was exactly what Grant intended to do. He had a damn good track record, his espionage skills were ranked among the topmost NSA agents. If anyone could get the job done, it was him. Particularly after he’d cleaned up, and given his hair a good Hollywood style tousling.

Stepping into the Buy More, it didn’t take Grant long to pick out the target. Gangly, dirty blonde hair, blue eyes. Leopold James Fitz. Underachiever. Nerd Herd technician. Kicked out of Stanford for cheating on his exams. And, apparently, thanks to a deeper look at his Facebook - something that had taken Grant two seconds, while he was busy stewing over Morse being sent in over him - gay.

Leo hadn’t noticed him yet, caught up in a phone call that looked like it might be annoying. The girl in the green shirt standing next to him, however, had, and was frantically trying to get Leo’s attention. Good. That probably meant that this was going to go very well.

That was only confirmed when Leo finally looked up, and promptly dropped the phone. Grant grinned, laughing and pointing at it as Leo put it back into the cradle.

“I sure hope that wasn’t important. I could have waited, um…” Grant made a show of peering at Leo’s nametag, and grinned wider, meeting his eyes again. “Leo.”

Grant made sure he was just shy of purring the name, eyes not leaving Leo’s as he leaned his elbow on the counter. “If you can help me with this, I would be so, so grateful. I was doing the latest update on my phone, here, and…” Grant pulled the decoy phone loose from his jacket pocket, and set it on the counter, sliding it closer to Leo. “It’s stuck. That thing is my life. If you can fix it, you’ll be my hero.”

That smile. 

It was the first thing Leo noticed about the guy after a quick glance, and he felt like he was being attacked with it, now. It was radiant, the most beautiful smile Leo had ever seen, and it was directed right at him.

The way he said Leo’s name was like molten heat sliding through Leo’s body, low and soft. Was he doing that on purpose? He couldn’t be, Leo thought. Were there guys out there that were really confident enough to just flirt with whatever guy they wanted to whether or not they knew he was gay? Leo absolutely was gay - more so in this moment, he thought, than he’d ever been in his life - but this man couldn’t have known that.

Plus, Leo was, well, a nerd.

“Uh, let me take a look,” he managed, moving right up to the counter and taking the phone from the guy’s hand. “These things do this all the time. I know everyone wants them, and they’re easy because everything is made for them, but they’re not without their flaws...” Leo flashed a quick smile up at the man across the counter, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

“Sometimes it’s an easy fix. I’m going to try a, uh, a hard reset.” He held the lock and home buttons down, waiting for a moment. “Okay, so that’s a no go. There’s one other simple thing that sometimes works - “ Ducking down, Leo dug around under the counter, coming back up a moment later with a lightning cable in hand.

“So - you just plug it in, just like that,” he instructed, plugging the phone in and watching as it went back to what it was supposed to be doing. “There we go.” Leo smiled, meeting the man’s eyes again. “See? Seems like it should be more complicated but...” He unplugged the phone and slid it across the counter, feeling warm under the collar as his fingers brushed the other man’s. 

“Good as new.”

[intersectfitz]

The day was off to a rough start. 

Leo had nearly been late for work at the Buy More, after spending the night on his bedroom floor. Whatever had happened to him last night, it hadn’t felt good, and the headache had only just faded a few minutes ago. 

That package from Kara...what had actually been on the USB stick, Leo didn’t know. He’d passed out, or fallen asleep, or something, before he’d really gotten a chance to take a look.

At least the store was quiet today. Leo stayed behind the Nerd Herd desk, chatting idly with Skye, who was leaning up against said desk. He shushed her when the phone rang, and picked it up, listening to a customer ramble on about some non-issue with their laptop that they’d purchased three years earlier. 

“Look, ma’am,” Leo tried, keeping his voice calm, the model of good customer service. “You don’t have extended coverage, and you purchased it three years ago, not to mention, it sounds to me like it’s still - oh - no, I can’t go on hold, I’m afraid I - all right.” He sighed in resignation as the line went silent. 

“Whoa,” Skye exclaimed softly, reaching across the counter to jab Leo in the ribs. He jerked away, frowning at her with the store phone tucked between his ear and shoulder. “Look, just in the door, ten out of ten total hottie, holy shit, look at him! Leo. Leo.” 

Leo lightly smacked her hand away as she continued to try and get his attention; the woman on the phone had just come back. Seconds later, though, a shadow fell over the desk and Leo looked up, locking eyes with the man Skye had been trying to get him to look at. 

Mouth falling open slightly, Leo dropped the phone, snapping out of his daze to grab it and scramble to put it back on the hook. He’d just hung up on that woman, but couldn’t have cared less about that right now.

“H...uh, hi, welcome to Buy More, how can I help you today?” Leo asked, a little breathlessly. This guy was easily the most attractive man Leo had ever laid eyes on. He was definitely over six feet tall, dressed very well, dark hair neatly parted, strong cheekbones and brown eyes that could have melted Leo where he stood. 

[intersectfitz]

Grant: Okay. I'll think about it. See if there's anything that jumps out at me.

Grant: Oh they won't be there

Grant: No that's good.

Grant: Just us then.

Grant: When do you want me?

Leo: Perfect.

Leo: Nope. Just the two of us.

Leo: Soon as your shift is over? I'll have food waiting here for you.